Obama moves to keep kill list memos secret forever

United States President Barack Obama has no plans to show Congress the legal rulings that justify his use of drones to kill US citizens, despite urging from members of his own political party.

Both members of the House and Senate have demanded as of late
that the Obama administration explain more about the president’s
ability to execute Americans suspected of terrorist activity
without ever taking them to trial. Members of his own party have
continuously pressed President Obama to disclose more information
on his targeted kill program to no avail, but even as questions
intensify and answers continue to be unknown, the president is
reportedly dismissing pleas largely coming from the left and is
preparing to side with Republicans — political foes who are much
less concerned about his drone program than last year’s terrorist
attack in Benghazi, Libya.

In lieu of opening up about the justification for killing his
own citizens, Pres. Obama will reportedly instead offer up instead
intelligence about last September’s incident in Libya that left
four Americans dead, including US Ambassador Chris Stevens. The
event has become a point of contention on both sides of the aisle,
and ongoing disputes over the mishandling of the assault and an
alleged cover-up in the days and weeks after have driven a rift in
Washington. Now with some lawmakers threatening to halt cabinet
nominations recently made by the president in protest, Mr. Obama
will reportedly offer Congress information about the Benghazi
attack and not his drone program.

According to the New York Times, Obama administration officials
are in talks with members of the Republican Party that are expected
to end with the White House opening up about Benghazi. In making
that decision, though, the paper reports that the
commander-in-chief will ignore pleas from his own political party
to discuss his overseas drone program, his ability to wage
extrajudicial killings on US citizens and his secretive kill
list.

By siding with right-wing opponents, Pres. Obama may finally
succeed in having hand-picked choice John O. Brennan confirmed for
a role as director of the CIA after having his nomination held up
on Capitol Hill be lawmakers wanting to learn more about Benghazi.
In the process, though, the president could be alienating Democrats
and once more going back on a promise to bring drone discussion to
the forefront of politics.

“I recognize that in our democracy, no one should just take
my word that we’re doing things the right way,” the president
said during his State of the Union address this month. “So, in
the months ahead, I will continue to engage with Congress to ensure
not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of
terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks
and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the
American people and to the world.”

As the president bides his time, however, less is being revealed
about an increasingly deadly program. Earlier this week, Sen.
Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) claimed that America’s drone
program has caused around 4,700 deaths internationally. At least
two US citizens — including a teenage boy — have been killed in
American-led drone strikes overseas.

Earlier this week, Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) told CBS
television program Meet the Press that information about Benghazi
has not been forthcoming and he personally has many questions he
wants answered by the White House.

"We've had two movies about getting bin Laden and we don't
even know who the people were who were evacuated from the consulate
the day after the attack. So there are many, many questions. And
we've had a massive cover-up on the part of the
administration,” he said.